Richard Clark Interview, 11 July 2003

scored high enough in it that I got in to Air Force intelligence. So I signed up with the Air Force and went to basic training, and then I went out to Denver and went to intelligence school.

TT:

Can you tell me just a little bit about what's involved in that?

RC:

Oh, all kinds of things, you know as far as intelligence is concerned, you know, we did targeting. You know the intelligence people are the ones, I don't know if you are familiar, when they found the missiles down in Cuba years ago. It's the intelligence people that do things like that.

TT:

Analyzing the photography.

RC:

Yeah.

TT:

I mean did you go through a course in interpreting photographic evidence?

RC:

Yes. I was in Denver from October through June, the end of June. It was a six months course, or something like that.

TT:

Then do you specialize in a certain area when you go through that training?

RC:

No.

TT:

I mean, was your specialty radarscoperadar analysis?

RC:

No. In fact, until I went to Minot, I'd never even seen a radarscope. Well I had, but then you learned really fast, you know? [Laughs]

TT:

Yeah, you'd have to.

RC:

After intelligence school, I went down to Offutt, to SAC headquarters [Strategic Air Command Headquarters, Offutt AFB, Omaha NE], and from there I went over to Vietnam. I was in an intelligence outfit in Vietnam. We did all the targeting for all the targets bombed in North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

TT:

So you were stationed in Saigon?

RC:

Yeah, we were at Ton Son Nhut, at the air base.

TT:

So you didn't want to go to Vietnam, but ended up there anyway. [laughs] At least you weren't on the front lines

RC:

Yes, I was not on the front lines although we did do some crazy things, like we helped direct close air support and, one of my friends